[QEMIST]

TLDR: I guess my tire got tired of me, so it went off living its tyred life 🙃

So, this happened (see video)

Where to begin? I guess I can confidently say that I am getting increasingly frustrated with my Audi experience. Prior to this, they damaged paint on my wheels and cracked my windshield (see my previous post).

And now this. I was driving my mom to LAX for an international flight 😳 Luckily for us, we wanted to visit a few LA places, so we had plenty of extra time. However, after waiting for 2 hours to get help, we made it to the airport only 1.5 hours before the departure. But she made her flight at the end. I drove home at 45 mph, making one short stop for food, and my total trip time since morning was 9 hours 😱

Now I learned several things:

• Audi's tires suck. I replaced this set less than a year ago
• Audi's roadside service is actually good. Pressed the wrench button, described the situation, got a confirmation 5 minutes later that a driver was on the way
• You can ride on rims
• Driving on an interstate at 45 mph is way more dangerous that driving at 85 mph. I feel so bad for people who struggled to pass me
• The AC unit draws very little battery. We were sitting with AC on for more that two hours and not a single mile disappeared from my range

Please, let me know what do you think. Should I complain to Audi regarding the quality of the tires? Do tires come with warranty? I really don't want to buy another set. Thanks everyone in advance.

EDIT: After reading comments I realized that there is a misunderstanding regarding me blaming Audi for this. My bad, I failed to include this in my story. The reason I am frustrated is that Audi recommended and installed my new tire set last August, which makes only half a year of usage. I'm not doing anything crazy with the car - it is my daily commuter to work.

 

[JNealCox]

Glad you are both OK.

 

[ace10]

Audi doesn't manufacture tires.

When you get a flat (you must that realize that all tires are subject to damage from road debris and/or improper care) you are supposed to pull off the road at the first safe opportunity. Wheels are not a substitute for tires. You may damage your vehicle by driving on a flat tire. Including brake components, suspension components, steering componenets, driveline components and body panels.

What brand/model are your current set of tires?
Who sold and installed them?

Due to high torque output and weight of EVs, tires will often wear at a much faster rate than those on a similar gasoline-powered vehicle.

Flat tires happen. It sucks. But I don't see how this is an "Audi" issue, per se.

 

[Q4_MB]

I'm sorry this happened to you and glad you are ok and your mom made it to the airport on time still.

Although, this isn't really an Audi issue, maybe if you positioned it as Audi picked the wrong vendor/manufacturer to supply the tires for their vehicles. Tires blowout can happen for any brand of car, it's just a part of owning and driving a vehicle. Like @ace10 had said, Audi does not make the tires.

I wonder if Audi will replace your rim for free though.

 

[QEMIST]

I replaced this set with Audi less than a year ago, they offered me them. This is why I kind of upset with them. In two years of owning the car, this is a second time I need to replace the whole set - this is what drives me crazy.

Does anyone have recommendation for the good tires?

Some additional info:

• the tires are Continental CrossContact LX Sport AO XL BW 255/50R20 109H
• I didn't really drive on the rim, other than the time to pull over. There is no visible damage to the wheel as far as I can see

 

[727200]

Glad you are ok but dayum. Is that a different wheel than the stock E-tron options? Would it be possible that the loading is different or not aligned correctly resulting in additional wear or stress? Maybe I'm just talking out my rear-end.

 

[QEMIST]

Glad you are ok but dayum. Is that a different wheel than the stock E-tron options? Would it be possible that the loading is different or not aligned correctly resulting in additional wear or stress? Maybe I'm just talking out my rear-end.

No, that's the thing. Everything is good, the wheel is a stock one, tires are recommended and installed by Audi, but I'm losing them about once a year (EDIT: checked my emails, Audi placed a new set in August, which makes only half a year of use). What am I doing wrong?

 

[hamedhbb]

No, that's the thing. Everything is good, the wheel is a stock one, tires are recommended and installed by Audi, but I'm losing them about once a year. What am I doing wrong?

What pressure do you inflate the tyres to?

 

[QEMIST]

What pressure do you inflate the tyres to?

The recommended values: 38 psi front, 41 psi rear.

 

[rdgrimes]

The OE Conti EV tires are about a 15-20K mile tire at best on an e-tron. There's quite a few tire discussions around here to peruse for suggestions on a new set. Michelin comes up a lot in those discussions.

 

[hamedhbb]

The recommended values: 38 psi front, 41 psi rear.

I don’t see a big problem but this is what manual says:

 

[e-quattron]

I'm terribly sorry that happened to you. I'm glad that you're ok.

 

[QEMIST]

@hamedhbb Thanks for the info.

 

[QEMIST]

After reading comments I realized that there is a misunderstanding regarding me blaming Audi for this. My bad, I failed to include this in my story. The reason I am frustrated is that Audi recommended and installed my new tire set last August, which makes only half a year of usage. I'm not doing anything crazy with the car - it is my daily commuter to work.

 

[JNealCox]

I guess there is no way to assess what caused the tire to fail! From the video is looked like the car handled pretty well during the event!

 

[hamedhbb]

I would be surprised if the rim is not warped or buckled.

 

[QEMIST]

I guess there is no way to assess what caused the tire to fail! From the video is looked like the car handled pretty well during the event!

That's quite true. There was shaking before the tire separated, but then I just pulled over. Quite frankly, before I exited the car and looked, I wasn'n completely sure what's happened.

I would be surprised if the rim is not warped or buckled.

I know it's not much for confirmation, but at least visually it's fine

 

[mmmzon]

The reason I am frustrated is that Audi recommended and installed my new tire set last August, which makes only half a year of usage. I'm not doing anything crazy with the car - it is my daily commuter to work.

Something similar happened to me way back when driving my good ol' GTI. All I heard was a pop, tire went to shreds. As far as speculation goes, I had to have driven over something sharp at lower speed, before joining the motorway. Sharp to cut enough into the tire to create a weaker spot but not deep enough to completely split the tire on the spot. As tire heated up with rotation, the weakened spot eventually gave up and popped open, shredding the tire. Obviously, just theory but the tow guys were not able to find anything at the spot when the tire shredded, so no nails, or anything on the roadway.
Never happened again to date but it was pretty scary at the time.
Now, recalling how the car pulled onto the side, I am really glad nothing happened to you and the car seems to have survived as well. eTron is much heavier so much harder to predict how it behaves when a tire goes out.
Also, not sure if you can blame whoever installed tires. Do you have tire warranty on them? This can be submitted as a tire damage under warranty, I was lucky enough to have it on GTI ones, so I got a new pair at the time.

EDIT: looking at the video closely, it seems that something happened on the overpass section, at least that is where I can hear a low thud. You might have hit one of the surface holes there, but it is just theory. I did not see tire fragments right at that time, but shortly thereafter I noticed vibrations, to likely air evacuated and you started running on a flat. After that, you can see tire shards. The video quality is obviously hardly sufficient to notice much at the speed.

 

[JNealCox]

Maybe the suddenness and completnness of the blow outs have to do with the weight of the car. This may also make EV flats due to sharp objects more of a problem. An acquaintance was telling me that his uncle bought an VW ID.4 in Eastern Oregon. The drive to his house included a mile of travel on gravel road. Over the course of a month he had 3 flat tires! He finally concluded that the weight of the car led to damage to the tires from rolling over sharp gravel. He got rid of the EV and went back to an ICE>

 

[Steven Gacovino]

I have a 2021 E-trim Sportsback. What you show has happened to me 2x in the last 3 months. Interesting to hear this is happening to other people.